There is More to Special Olympics Than Just Spring Games!

The Special Olympics Basketball Team, the Buncombe Ice. From left to right: Sidney Blakely, Tyler Ayers, Elijah Kiddy, Alex Pott, Rob Powell, and Robert Walker, and coach Aaron Naster. Photo taken at the SONC Western Basketball Final Tournament.

On May 2, 2013, hundreds of athletes in Buncombe County, along with their friends and families, converged on the TC Roberson High School campus, where the football field has been transformed into a temporary, simulated Olympic Village.

This was the beginning of Special Olympics North Carolina – Buncombe County Spring Games. The athletes have been training at their schools and through other sources, and are showing what they have accomplished. Their goals are high and their accomplishments are always remarkable.

Every year during the first weekend in June, thousands of athletes from across the state flock to the Raleigh and Cary area for Special Olympics North Carolina Summer Games. These athletes will train during the spring and will board buses for Raleigh on May 31st with little or no fanfare. They will return as winners, regardless of where they place, simply because they made The Climb.

Unfortunately, just as they departed, they will return to little or no fanfare. But here in Asheville and Buncombe County there is more to Special Olympics day at TC Roberson High School. As a parent, coach, and resident of this Buncombe County, I have come to realize that the majority of the athletes on that field never participate in any of the other sports offered here.

So I am calling on parents, teachers, school administrators, and everyone who values our youth and your neighbors and fellow citizens, to reach out and help us find these athletes and involve them.

For more information on Special Olympics Swim, contact Athena Blakely spyd-yee@gmail.com. For all other sports contact Greg Mace at greg.mace@buncombecounty.org.